Gadfly is on a mission to stop carp

'Mr. Trouble' makes a pest of himself in quest to thwart invaders

Oct. 17, 2006

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Ed Landmichl walks by an informational poster about Asian carp at a Chicago bait shop. Once renowned as a charter boat captain, he now spends his time needling public officials to do more to stop the invasive species. "I get sick of thinking about the fishing being ruined in the Great Lakes," he says.

This Series

Part One: Super-sized cousins of the common carp are now within 50 miles of Lake Michigan, threatening to forever change life in the Great Lakes region, home to a $4.5 billion annual commercial and recreational fishing industry.

Part Two: Picture today's version of the Great Lakes food chain as a skinny tower of building blocks, instead of the fat pyramid it once was. Now imagine the damage done by pulling a block from the base.

Part Three: The only thing standing between Asian carp and the Great Lakes is a failing electric barrier on a canal that connects the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan. A new barrier would help - if the government would turn it on.

Since 2003, reporter Dan Egan has been reporting on threats facing the lakes. His groundbreaking work has shown the damage caused by invasive species and has laid out the bold steps that could be taken to restore and protect the world’s largest freshwater system.

Ed Landmichl hasn't made many friends among the people doing their damnedest to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

The rabble-rouser shows up at their public meetings in a shirt that says "Here comes Mr. Trouble" and spits invectives through his gapped teeth that might have gotten him arrested in an earlier time, and might yet still.

"I'm a belligerent person," the 73-year-old retired ironworker says without a smile.

The Korean War vet runs against a crowd of PhDs, but he doesn't have a college degree.

He doesn't have a high school diploma.

He does have an unmatched drive to keep the carp out of Lake Michigan.

"I'm the only one following Asian carp like this," Landmichl said as he took a reporter on a tour of the heavily plumbed southern shore of Lake Michigan, where the carp would be expected to make their initial assault on the Great Lakes. "I really hate that fish with a passion."

Landmichl, who sometimes really does live in a van down by the river, grumbles about his congestive heart failure and his rotting joints, but the man is tireless in his fight, even though it's sometimes hard to figure out what the fight is against.

Sometimes it seems he isn't even sure.

"My number one worry is to show that they built (the barrier) in the wrong spot," he said. "My number two worry is that they get it done - even if it is in the wrong spot."

That's because he says the barrier will still do some good, maybe buy some time. Maybe keep the fish out the lakes at least during his lifetime.

Landmichl is legendary in Lake Michigan fishing circles for his prowess as a charter boat captain in the 1960s and 1970s.

He doesn't fish much anymore. He says he doesn't have time.

He's too busy trying to get people's attention about what he sees as a slow motion environmental travesty unfolding at the south end of our lake.

Does he ever get tired talking about carp?

"No," he said. "I get sick of thinking about the fishing being ruined in the Great Lakes."

Not sport fish

Bighead and silver carp, he notes, can't be caught with a fishing pole because they're filter feeders. The other two species of Asian carp - grass and black - eat weeds and mollusks, respectively.

He spends his days writing letters, making phone calls and making a nuisance of himself with the people who are busy doing what they can to solve the problem, which simply isn't enough for him.

Landmichl's biggest gripe is that the barrier is being built in a place that won't stop carp from riding floodwaters into the Great Lakes. He says two barriers should have been built farther upstream, where flooding is not an issue.

"They said they had to build it here, that they didn't have a choice," he said. "Well, I think they did."

Phil Moy, a University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute invasive-species expert and co-chairman of the advisory panel trying to get the barrier built, responded, "That would be great - if you had twice as much money."

Moy acknowledged that the panel did find an alternative site for the barrier closer to Lake Michigan that, through the luxury of hindsight, "probably would have been better."

"But," he added, "at the time there was an issue with a barge company (operating) there, and there was no power on the site."

In phone conversations, you can almost hear the eyes roll when Landmichl's name comes up.

"I suppose his friends like him," Moy said.

Landmichl laughed uncontrollably when he heard this.

Then he slapped Moy . . . with a backhanded compliment.

"He's just a college graduate," he said, still laughing.

About Dan Egan

Dan Egan is a reporter covering the Great Lakes. His reporting on invasive species and other issues has won numerous awards. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for explanatory reporting, in 2010 and 2013.